We have served steaks that were medium when you asked for medium rare. We have served salads with ladybug accompaniments. We sat people and forgot about them and we have served drinks with way too much simple syrup.

And we will probably do it again.

When we bought the waterfront property in need of a whole lot of love we spent months imagining life as restaurateurs. Friday nights filled with happy local friends, meeting and greeting and eating – and laughing. We imagined wonderful smells and flavors and presentations of interesting and unique creations served by jovial, sharply dressed kitchen staff. And we imagined working a few nights a week and stopping in for the occasional busy lunch during parent’s weekends.

And then we opened.

While we look back fondly on our first two plus years, and most of what we imagined has been our lucky reality, we have certainly learned a lot and the biggest lesson of all is that you need to go into this business with dinosaur thick skin. I remember many people not so secretly sharing their opinions about our decision to invest so much in the property, “not sure what they are thinking, no way to make that location work.” Ironically it was those same skeptics that wandered in on a busy Friday night and were quick to let us know that they “always knew this place would work.” Those critics are the easy ones.

While each and every one of our 45 employees comes to work intending to give perfection for the entirety of their shift we certainly don’t accomplish that. We seat too many people and the kitchen gets backed up, we pull the wrong salmon out of the oven and serve the one that needed another two minutes rather than the one that was cooked perfectly. We grab the box of beautiful dino kale that arrived from a local vendor an hour ago and while it has been washed multiple times, it hasn’t been inspected yet, part of our routine that might get missed on a wild Saturday night. It happens, and it will happen again.

And when we make a mistake we hear about it, as we should. Social media is a wonderful tool for keeping up with friends and family and sharing photos of your kids on the first day of school. We have access to information that helps us find the best hotels and restaurants and we certainly benefit from those tools. We also get punched in the gut from time to time, and often we deserve it; that is simply part of the business. When we do receive criticism we sulk around avoiding each other and try not to let the bad reviews affect us but they do. And then we dissect them and share them with everyone as a way to learn and improve and we work hard together to toughen up.

I admire Seth Godin, a talented marketing guru and I read his blog daily. This week he made me think when he said “If your goal is to be universally liked and respected and understood, then, it must mean your goal is to not do something that matters.”

Since opening my best calculation is that we have served 153,600 meals and we have made some mistakes, and we will again. Fire away critics because we are doing something that matters and that means we might not get it perfect every time, but we will listen and learn and improve and try again the next day to get it just exactly right.

Even with the flaws you deliver great meals every time. We appreciate having you in our neighborhood.

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Tonya Olazagasti

9/7/2016 06:50:30 pm

This is it!

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Ken Alger

9/7/2016 06:25:03 am

One clear measure of success is your full parking lot. Besides, when dining alfresco, one should expect the occasional ladybug. Imagine how much worse it might've been. :-)

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Penny Francis

9/7/2016 06:52:27 am

Thank you for addressing this. I have had the privilege of working in your chef's kitchen...which afforded me the understanding of what it takes to make each and every dining experience memorable. And..I made a few mistakes during that time. It stung...and I felt it for all my co-workers when their times came to feel the sting. What we took from those times was how do we fix it and how do we move forward.
It's a restaurant...a great, innovative, busy, fun, did I say great restaurant....that will sometimes make mistakes. But, one thing I know for sure. They will NEVER stop trying to make it better.
I love you guys!!

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Penny Francis

9/7/2016 06:52:52 am

Thank you for addressing this. I have had the privilege of working in your chef's kitchen...which afforded me the understanding of what it takes to make each and every dining experience memorable. And..I made a few mistakes during that time. It stung...and I felt it for all my co-workers when their times came to feel the sting. What we took from those times was how do we fix it and how do we move forward.
It's a restaurant...a great, innovative, busy, fun, did I say great restaurant....that will sometimes make mistakes. But, one thing I know for sure. They will NEVER stop trying to make it better.
I love you guys!!

Reply

Penny Francis

9/7/2016 06:52:58 am

Thank you for addressing this. I have had the privilege of working in your chef's kitchen...which afforded me the understanding of what it takes to make each and every dining experience memorable. And..I made a few mistakes during that time. It stung...and I felt it for all my co-workers when their times came to feel the sting. What we took from those times was how do we fix it and how do we move forward.
It's a restaurant...a great, innovative, busy, fun, did I say great restaurant....that will sometimes make mistakes. But, one thing I know for sure. They will NEVER stop trying to make it better.
I love you guys!!

Reply

christine guyette

9/7/2016 08:44:13 am

I think you are doing wonderful. Last i knew no-one is perfect and if your human then you also make mistakes from time to time. Keep up the good work. God Bless

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Romeyn Prescott

9/7/2016 01:45:12 pm

"I don't know what the key to success is, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody."

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Seth Chichester

9/7/2016 02:35:49 pm

I try to be the old guy who enjoys a successful venture and I certainly do appreciate all that goes into making the great meals and atmosphere, for you have certainly accomplished that . Good things do happen at Jake's

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Diane LaBarge

9/8/2016 05:38:57 pm

I have no idea what you are talking about. Everything I've had there has been beautiful to look at and delicious to eat; and the service has been just what it should be. Thanks for making it so.

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Amy

9/9/2016 12:50:22 pm

Last I checked, they are still selling pencils with erasers. Mistakes happen, and as it's said, "to err is human..."

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Geri Barney

9/10/2016 02:02:41 am

Bravo!!! Well said! It is really distressing to read a negative review and that's because we care so much about what we do. I try to respond as best I can but there are some people that you cannot please no matter how hard you try. We all have "that customer" that comes in regularly and always has something negative to say about the food or the staff or the shape of the ice cubes. I had a guy who has never set foot in my restaurant leave a negative review on every single site imaginable, I am still seeing it. All because he works with a girl who didn't like a member of my staff. What he said was 100% untrue, a lie, just for something to do I guess. Sure I posted a rebuttal but the damage is done. Some people are just miserable. A while back someone posted a negative review about one of our paninis and a glowing review about a panini she had in Canton. Seems she hated our bread thought it was awful. When I responded I told her that we used the exact same bread as the good panini restaurant. In fact there were times when one of us would run short and borrow a few loaves. She was sorta speechless after that. And what about the guy that left me this long review of how I was an elitist for recommending people make a reservation. How dare I assume that my restaurant is in that category that reservations are needed! Have you seen how small we are!!!!So it's not always about the food or service. Marc and Chris, you have turned that property into a beautiful destination and I know how hard you have both worked. I cannot imagine doing what you do. I am quite happy with my little 15 table Bistro 😊 We make mistakes, not a lot, but stuff happens. Sometimes I just want to walk people back to that little kitchen and have them see just how overwhelming it can be at times, especially when it's 100 degrees back there and you have convection ovens blowing heat, a sanitizer with steaming hot water, running constantly, a panini grill set at 400 degrees all in that little space. If we mess up we will make it right no matter what it takes. At the end of the day we know we have done the best we could to make sure that the people who came in to spend their hard earned money leave happy and satisfied and will come back again. As you well know that's 99% of our customers and yours. So keep it up guys, good things WILL happen to those folks working so hard at Jake's!

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In 1994, a little ball of yellow fur entered our world and stole our hearts. For eleven years, he was a constant companion showering our young family with unconditional love, energetic greetings and a pure, playful spirit. So, in his honor, we named our restaurant Jake's. May our restaurant offer you all Jake embodied: a friendly, welcoming place where you can come and be as you are.